Seating equipment for booths



y 1934- LE ROY FINN SEATING EQUIPMENT FOR BOOTHS Filed April 11, 1931 INVENTOR 5 F 22,

W A TTORNEY Patented May 29, 1934 UNETED stares SEATING EQUIPMENT FOR BQQTHS Le Rey Finn,

Scranton, Pa, assignor to Wiiliam J. Finn, Scranton, Pa.

Application April 11, 1931, Serial No. 529,387

2 Claims.

This invention relates, generally, to seating equipment for eating booths, such as soda fountain booths; and the invention has reference, more particularly, to a novel form of seating equipment 5" having lift seats for use in such booths.

Eating booths, such as soda fountain booths, as heretofore generally constructed, are usually squipped with a centrally positioned table together with fixed benches extending along the sides of the table. These booths although having certain practical advantages are somewhat objectionable in use because of the difiiculty involved in getting into and out of the same. Since it is necessary for the benches to be fairly close to the table, and as the table and benches are generally fixed in position, it is not possible to move the bench away from the table as a person enters or leaves the booth, and even if the bench were movable, the relatively great weight thereof would preclude such movement. This necessitates the user assuming an inconvenient and cramped position when he enters and leaves the booth and ofttimes his clothing will catch on projecting parts of the bench or table, resulting in annoyance and possible damage.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel seating equipment for eating booths which is so constructed and arranged as v to enable persons to readily and easily enter and leave a booth in use, the said seating equipment having lift seats which may be readily lifted out of the way while a person is entering or leaving the booth, thereby providing ample room. be-

I tween the bench and table to accommodate his movements.

Another object of the present invention lies in the provision of a novel seating equipment for booths which is so constructed and arranged as to permit the same to be placed relatively close to the booth table, thereby enabling the booth to occupy less floor space while at the same time adding materially to the convenience of users inasmuch as the seats project nearer to the table in use, the said seats being liftable out of the way to permit the ingress and egress of the users.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel seating equipment for booths which is of relatively simple construction, reliable in operation and having an exceedingly long life in use. 1

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be clearly understood from the following detailed description 55 of the same.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:--

Fig. l is a perspective view of booth equipment employing the principles of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of the seating equipment illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4. is a view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrates a slightly modified form of construction.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 3 of the said drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates a table used in an eating booth having the novel seating equipment or benches of the present invention at the sides of the table 1. This seating equipment is illustrated as consisting of a single bench 2 extending along one side of the table and a double bench 2 at the other side of the table, the double bench being adapted to also serve as a portion of the seating equipment for an adjoining booth.

The benches 2 and 2 are very similar to the ordinary booth benches in appearance with the exception that the end. walls 3 and 3' of the benches 2 and 2', respectively, are relatively narrow, being considerably less than the width of the individual seats 4 of these benches. Since the individual seats at are adapted to be lifted up and out of the way when a person enters or leaves the booth, as will further appear, these benches may be placed relatively close to the table 1, thereby saving valuable floor space, while at the same time the forward edge portions of the relatively narrow end walls 3 and 3 are amply spaced from the table 1 to permit ready access to the booth without any inconvenience or crampmg.

The benches 2 and 2 are illustrated in the drawings as being of sufiicient length to provide two individual seats 4 at each side of table 1. It is to be understood, however, that the length of these benches may be increased or decreased at will to accommodate a greater or lesser number of individual seats. The individual seats 4 of each bench are turnably mounted upon a stationary horizontal supporting shaft or rod 6. Rod 6 extends along the underside of seats 4 and has its end portions fixedly mounted in brackets 7 secured to the inner surfaces of the end walls 3 and 3. The seats 4 are illustrated as turnably mounted upon the rod 6 by means of metal straps or clamps 8 which extend around the rod 6 and are secured to the undersides of the seats 4 as by screws 9. The rod 6 is illustrated as grooved or of slightly reduced diameter where the same is engaged by the straps 8, as indicated at 10, to prevent longitudinal movement of the seats along this rod. The straps 8 by engaging the sides of the grooves 19 prevent such longitudinal movement of the seats.

In order to bias the seats 4 to their uplifted and out of the way positions, thereby facilitating easy ingress and egress, these seats are preferably provided with metallic inserts or weights 11 adjacent their rear edges. The weights 11 act under the influence of gravity to turn each seat 4 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 2 when a person rises from the seat, so that the same are normally held in their lifted, vertical positions. Cushion stops 12 are provided below seats 12 to engage these seats at the end of their upward turning movement and limit such turning movement under the influence of the weights 11. The cushion stops 12 consist of angle brackets secured to the end walls 3 or 3', which brackets have rub ber buffers attached thereto for cushioning the movement of the seats. When a seat is pushed downwardly to its horizontal position in use as when one sits on the same, the rear upper edge portion of the seat will engage or abut against the seat back 13. This seat back is provided with a clearance cutout or aperture 14 behind each seat 4, which cutout extends almost the entire width of the seat and prevents clothing from being pinched between the seat and the back 13 when a person sits down.

When the booth is unoccupied, as shown in Fig.1, the seats 4 are all in their lifted or vertical and out of the way positions, thereby enabling persons to readily enter or leave the booth, inasmuch as ample clearance space is provided between the side edges of the table and both the seats 4 and end walls 3 and 3 of the benches. After a person has entered the booth, he merely presses his seat 4 downwardly as he sits down, causing the seat to turn to its horizontal useful position, shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the rear upper portion of the seat abutting the seat back 13 at spaced points adjacent the ends of the seat. With the seat thusly in use, the forward edge of the same projects close to the table 1 or may even project under the same somewhat, thereby enabling the person to sit close to the table as is desirable for utmost comfort in eating. The necessary clearance space allowed between the table and bench for ingress and egress in ordinary fixed seat benches, prevents comfortable sitting at the table since the bench seat is too far away from the table. When the person wishes to leave the booth, he merely rises, whereupon the weight 11 automatically lifts the seat up and out of the way, thereby providing ample clearance space between the table 1 and the seat 4 to permit his egress.

It will be apparent that instead of using the weights 11 for moving the seats 4 to their vertical positions, a spring may be used such as a coil spring 15 illustrated in Fig. 4. This spring 15 is shown wrapped around rod 6 and engages in a recess in the end wall of the seat at one end and abuts the bottom of the seat at its other end, thereby tending to move the seat into its vertical position. The operation of the seat in the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 is exactly the same as that described for the other figures. It will be apparent that instead of providing the benches 2 and 2' with individual separate seats 4, which are individually operable, these benches may have unitary turnable seats extending the full length of the bench, if desired.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrated and 1 not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In an eating booth provided with a table, a bench having relatively narrow end walls, a bench back connecting said end walls, a rod eX-' tending between said end walls forwardly of and below said back and having its ends supported on said walls, individual lift seats pivotally mounted on said rod, said seats being turnable from a horizontal useful position, in which posi-, tion the upper rear edge portions of said lift seats abut the bottom of said back, to a vertical position, weights embedded in the rear edge portion of said seats for urging the latter to their vertical positions, and cushion stops carried by said end walls for limiting the upward turning movement of said lift seats, said bench back having clearance apertures adjoining the upper rear edge portions of said seats when the latter are in their horizontal positions, said clearance apertures extending almost the entire width of said seats.

2. In an eating booth provided with a table, a bench having end walls, a bench back connecting said end walls, a supporting member extending 125 between said end walls forwardly of and below said back, a lift seat pivotally mounted on said supporting member, said seat being turnable from a horizontal useful position, in which position the rear upper portion of said seat abuts the 130 bottom of said back, to a vertical position, said bench back and said seat being constructed and arranged so as to provide a clearance space between the lower portion of said back and the top of said seat when said seat is in its horizontal 135 position, said clearance space extending substantially the entire width of the seat to thereby accommodate the clothing of the booth user.

LE ROY FINN. 

